


Pay Phone

by orphan_account



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Hshdh too tired to remake tags uh, related to other work, warning for alcohol mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 10:36:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11507643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A one shot prequel to "Pizzeria au"Featuring Glanni Glaepur and raising a cousin.





	Pay Phone

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like writing this was a lot and just wanted it to end, but now that I am here, I am disappointed in myself. 
> 
> Lemme know if this is any good.

Pay Phone

Slowly, he opened the front door. Wincing as it creeked.

He just got back from a friend's place. They had a birthday party and since several of Robbie's other friends were there also, they decided to hole up in the birthday kid's room and work on a class project. It was a little late by the time they were finished.

Robbie ended up taking the latest bus home, actually.

Now he just had to make it from here, to upstairs and into his bedroom. They didn't have any wooden floors, so thankfully the floor wouldn't creek, and he'd be able to stay quiet.

He made it a few steps past the front door before seeing that the light in the psuedo office was on.

His cousin was awake.

His cousin, Glanni Gaepur, was a self proclaimed business man and hobby artist. Though the truth was that the only business he had his hands in were illegal, and that the only true art of his was of trickery. A man in his early 30's, and 6' too much from _Iceland_ , his cousin, was a criminal. And not a grunt either. He would avoid personally getting his hands dirty if he could, employing the help of local gangs and the like. After being in the "business" for so many years, he was crawling in wealth, enough that he was able to take in his younger cousin...

Glanni sat at his desk, in one hand was his pen, and in the other was a drink. There was no doubt that Glanni was up to scheming yet another heist, the man never seemed to stop planning. If he wasn't out commiting a crime, chances were that he was at home thinking up the crime.

He didn't even turn away from his work when addressing Robbie.

"What's kept you?" The man was of course referring to the fact that Robbie had come home way past their agreed curfue. Or more accurately, one Robbie had begrudedly agreed to.

Robbie licked his chapped lips, looking up, looking down, and looking back up again. _I was hoping you'd be asleep._

"I had to stay after school.. " Robbie replied.

"With your grades and track record? I highly doubt it. And I didn't get a call from your school, so I doubt you were making trouble either, " his cousin said. "Now why don't you tell me the real story? "

He could almost sense the raised eyebrow.

"T-the buses were running late, " Robbie stammered.

Glanni finally put the pen down, taking a generous swig of his drink. Was he going to get plastered? Again? Robbie wondered to himself.

Well, Glanni would always say drinking was tame for him, and that he was limiting himself to alcohol for his cousin. It made Robbie wonder what his cousin ordinarily would do.

And a little part of him also felt happy that his cousin would apparently drop harmful substances out his life, for him.

"It's 9 pm, Robin. Your school day ends at 3, if I'm not mistaken. Are you telling me the reliable public transit is running 6 hours late on a Thursday? "

"...if you put it that way, it kind of sounds wrong, " Robbie admitted.

Glanni laughed softly, somehow humored by this. "Right, little Robin. That's pretty obvious. Why won't you tell me what actually happened? "

"I wasn't up to anything... "

His criminal cousin turned completely from his work now, his stormy eyes meeting Robbie's own eyes. It was unnerving to look into those eyes, though that was silly considering Robbie had those same eyes. It just felt like something in those eyes were some kind of actual storm, or maybe simply a picture of something much larger going on in Glanni's mind.

Robbie held his breath, perhaps in anticipation for a verbal lashing. From what he has observed, Glanni was quite the talent in words. I wonder if it's possible to rip me a new one without moving a finger..

"Robin... " His older cousin had a frown on his face, he realized. "I didn't say you were up to anything. I was just worried about you. You didn't call me, or let me know where you were going. I just want to know what actually happened. You don't contact me in any way, shape, or form. You go for hours, missing dinner. Even Ella was worried about you! And then when you do show up, you lie about why it is you even- Robin! You know that's reason enough to be concerned! And you should also know that with my lifestyle, I can hardly call the cops or ask around for you... "

Glanni.. Wasn't angry at him? Well, clearly he was angry, and he was why. But? He was concerned? Somebody was concerned about him?  A freaking criminal was concerned about him! More concerned than his parents had ever bothered to be. And somehow that made Robbie want to both throw himself into his cousin's arms and never let go, and curl up into a ball and die.

Robbie swallowed a panicked shudder he didn't know he had been holding in.

"I didn't think about it that way.. " Robbie said, holding in the urge to cry that he didn't realize anyone would care if he didn't come back.

Glanni sighed.

"Of course you didn't think.. You didn't think about that at all. And maybe that isn't your fault. I hardly knew you before you came to live with me.."

He set his finished drink down, slouching tiredly on his swirly chair.

He must have been working hard all day...

Robbie looked down at the tile flooring, seemingly admiring the floral patterns.

"All I knew was that where you were previously living was unsuitable.." He continued. "You know you can trust me? I wouldn't have taken you here if I didn't think I wasn't able to keep my door open for you."

"Now I know I can trust you, " Robbie said quietly, burning holes into the floor with his eyes. He felt so embarrassed...

Of course his guardian would care. That was supposed to be obvious. 

What if Glanni had thought he had been doing something bad? Plenty of kids his age were out doing reckless and irresponsible things.

Robbie had the funniest feeling that his cousin would have let him know if he genuinely thought that there were some things going on. Glanni didn't seem like the kind of person to just let those things rest.

Robbie wondered how this conversation would have turned out had he actually gone out and made a mess of himself, would his guardian even be half as concerned?

"I'm so sorry, Robin. I didn't make it clear to you. You could have gotten yourself so hurt and I wouldn't have known where you went, or why..."

Glanni then got up from his chair grabbed onto Robbie with his unnatural arms, holding Robbie close enough that he could hear the other's heartbeat. It bounced like a fluttering butterfly, it was a desperate sound. Almost as though the heart thought it needed to work extra hard to keep Glanni awake.

And maybe it did.

It took Robbie a few seconds to realize that this was a hug, and another few seconds to comprehend that fact.

"Glanni?"

"Yeah?" Glanni asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm the one who didn't check in with you, " Robbie started. "I just..."

Robbie frowned into his criminal's cousin's shirt, coughing. It smelled like perfume and cigarettes.

"What is it, kiddo?"

It was so silly. So, so silly. The idea that Glanni would somehow dissaprove of Robbie having normal friends (or friends at all) was a laugh, even if Robbie had thought that.

That was way too silly to just tell an adult. 'I wasn't responsible because I thought you'd mock me for having fun.'

So, instead, Robbie just avoided it.

"You smell gross. You gotta stop smoking so much," Robbie said, wincing.

"Heeey!" Glanni whined. "You little brat, you know I work to conceal that!"

Robbie snorted. "Glanni, you know spraying essence of prissiness all over yourself just makes you smell worse, you know? You smell like a beauty product factory blew up!" He teased.

They spent a few minutes joking back and forth about this.

_"Well, Robin, you don't smell like rainbows yourself."_

_"Glanni, you're the one who's trying smell like a new flavor of skittle._   
_"_

Sadly, the subject couldn't just be dropped like that. 

"You don't need to tell me right now, it's-" The man checked his watch. "Way past both of our bed times. And I'm betting you that Ella has been awake in her bed this whole time. You owe her a story. "

Robbie yawned, proving his cousin's point.

"I thought adults wouldn't have bed times," Robbie said.

Glanni broke their hug, falling back onto his chair. "That's a lie about adulthood. Being an adult isn't as fun as you might think. Now off to bed you go."

Robbie nodded, turning to the stairs.

"And Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"Find a payphone next time. I almost had a premature heart attack."

"I will, yeah."

Robbie went up to bed, finding that Ella was already passed out in her own room. Maybe he'd tell her a good morning story later.

And Glanni went back to planning a robbery. (Not before getting up to refill his glass...) The very same robbery that got him sent to jail, in fact.

Luckily Robbie would be turning 18 in a week's time, he had no problem getting custody of Ella.

Though that fact hardly would help Robbie want to trust Glanni, but that is a story for another time.


End file.
